Farmers issue devastating messages to Starmer ahead of tomorrow’s rally: ‘This is war and we will win’
Farmers have issued a series of devastating messages to Keir Starmer ahead of their second rally tomorrow in Westminster.
Tractors are mustering on Whitehall from 10am tomorrow morning, with speeches timed for midday at the exact moment Starmer heads for the Chamber for PMQs.
This will be followed by a ‘short ceremonial event’ to mark to the ‘serious consequences of Starmer and Reeves’s budget’ before tractors begin a ‘slow drive’ around Whitehall.
The farming community and the government are locking horns over the former’s capping of inheritance tax exemptions for previously exempt farmers.
The government say it is a ‘fair and balanced way’ to plug the £22billion black hole but asset-rich, cash-poor farmers say it will wipe out profits, necessitate sales of land and machinery, and break up land that’s been passing through families for generations, worsening the UK’s food security.
Colin Rayner, a farmer from Berkshire, said: “Starmer’s betrayal isn’t just a slap in the face to farmers—it’s a direct assault on the future of British agriculture.
“These are families who’ve slogged their guts out for generations to preserve their land. Farms bombed in WWII. Lives lost in Flanders.
“Farmers scraping by in the 1970s just to hold onto their farms. And Starmer thinks he can waltz in, sell them out, and we’ll all roll over? Think again.
“The reality is stark: even if he sold every farm in Britain, it wouldn’t be enough to paper over the NHS’s waste and mismanagement.
“This isn’t about funding healthcare; it’s about stripping rural Britain of its lifeblood.
“The British public needs to hear this loud and clear—without farmers, there’s no food, no future, no country worth fighting for.
“Starmer’s hour of lies will come back to haunt him. It’s time to wake up and fight for the farmers who’ve fed this nation for centuries.”
Colin Rayner on GB News
The Treasury aims to raise £520million a year by 2030 by capping inheritance tax reliefs, enough to fund the NHS for one day and five hours. The figure is 50 times smaller than the amount Reeves will raise by raising Employer’s National Insurance Contributions.
Critics have said the paltry figure shows this is not about raising money but attacking a section of society that has historically supported the Conservatives.
Labour strenuously deny such allegations stating: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast – we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.”
But many farmers just aren’t buying it. David Catt, a veg grower and wholesaler in Maidstone, said: “This disastrous budget could be the final death nail in the coffin of British farming.”
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“It is poorly thought out, with no recognition of the consequences. After decades of farm income decline, successive governments have pushed British farming to the edge.
“This goes beyond politics; it is a problem of government that is completely out of touch with reality.
“The collapse of family farming and businesses will be devastating for the UK economy. If the government wants growth it has to rethink this policy.”
Kent Fairness For Farmers organiser and beef farmer Matt Cullen added: “The time has now come for farmers to unite and stand up and fight back against the government tax decisions.
“We need to show this government that we will not be pushed over and have our Farms destroyed. This is war and we will win and force the government in to a U turn!”
A Defra spokesperson said: “Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will impact around 500 estates a year.
“For these estates, inheritance tax will be at half the rate paid by others, with 10 years to pay the liability back interest free. This is a fair and balanced approach which fixes the public services we all rely on.”